WASHINGTON — If I had a dollar for every time Lou Lamoriello walked into my office at the Meadowlands offering me a dollar to get a haircut, I would have … well, I would have a dollar.

And I do.

Because when you worked for Lamoriello, as I did for five years after he came to the Devils in 1987, you never needed to be asked twice, asked in this case of course meaning, told.

An era has ended not only in New Jersey, but in the NHL and in the history of pro sports in our town that extends over bridges east and west. We have had a handful of front office giants in the modern era — Branch Rickey, George Young, George Weiss, Frank Cashen, Eddie Donovan and Bill Torrey foremost among them — but none was the enduring face of his franchise the way Lamoriello has been.

The Lou Jersey Devils.

You did it his way if you worked for the organization. Before the final home game this year, when all-time franchise forward Patrik Elias said of those days of wine and roses during which Exit 16W off the Turnpike was the Exit of Champions, “Everyone knew how tough it was to play against us and how tough it was to play for us, with all the discipline and everything,” I appreciated exactly what he meant.

No one was tougher or more demanding professionally. But no one was or is more generous and loyal personally. There’s a soft side to Lamoriello he didn’t want people to see. Now, in his role as president after hiring Ray Shero to take over as general manager, maybe that will change a little bit. Maybe not.

After that final home game, I happened to meet Lamoriello in the corridor as we were on our way to press room, where he would conduct a postgame briefing as coach. We chatted briefly. He looked tired. It looked like it was time.

It is time. It is time for Lamoriello, 72 and with a family filled with grandchildren he adores, to enjoy more of life beyond the boundaries of the rink. He has earned it, every moment of it, just as he has earned every accolade.

Of course, his record is not unblemished. Some of his free-agent signings in the cap era — specifically Alexander Mogilny, Vladimir Malakhov and Ryane Clowe — have been inscrutable. Missing the playoffs the past three years and four of the past five seems like something out of a Bizarro World following a couple of decades of domination. Somehow, in a league of young top-end talent, the Devils are bereft of it up front.

But he leaves behind a legacy of Stanley Cup championships. He leaves behind a hockey operation created in his own image to a hand-picked successor. Lamoriello understands the chain of command as well as anyone, and as such he surely recognizes the importance of granting and allowing Shero autonomy, but he hasn’t turned in his keys to the building, either.

It was time and it is time. Maybe it is time for me to spend that dollar.

Wouldn’t be so sure if Shero dips into his Pittsburgh past to come up with a head coach, the GM will turn to Dan Bylsma.

For we’re told by an aware source Shero has extremely high regard for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach John Hynes, completing his fifth year behind the Penguins’ AHL team’s bench.

It is unclear whether the Penguins would grant Shero permission to speak with Hynes at the conclusion of the Calder Cup playoffs should the GM request it, and even if permission is granted, it is unknown whether there would be compensation involved.

This, too: Though Mike Johnston is returning for a second season behind the Pittsburgh bench, he is going to be high on everyone’s “first to be fired list” starting next year. So if Pens GM Jim Rutherford, who only has one year to go on his deal, envisions Hynes as a potential replacement, he may not be available.

Also perhaps of interest to Shero as he builds a staff would be Billy Guerin, the Devils’ 95er who is an assistant GM in Pittsburgh.

It is unknown whether Guerin would have interest in coming back to New Jersey, just as it is unknown whether Shero could get permission to talk with him. Even if he does, it appears as if he would have to yield draft pick compensation in order to hire him, and draft picks are something the Devils can’t exactly afford to be forfeiting as this juncture.

Ken HitchcockAP

Nothing official, obviously, but at this point it is sounding as if Ken Hitchcock will return behind the bench of the Blues.

Also that Don Sweeney is the in-house leader for the GM’s job in Boston, regardless of whether the B’s get the opportunity to speak with Jeff Gorton, whom the Rangers cannot afford to lose as Glen Sather’s assistant. …

Meanwhile, no goals in the playoffs again for Thomas Vanek of the Wild, whose four-game sweep by the Blackhawks was as great a shock as Ryan Suter going minus-eight for the tournament. …

Matt O’Connor’s decision to sign with the Senators rather than the Rangers, Oilers or Canucks means that, a) Edmonton remains available as a possible trade destination for Cam Talbot and, b) the Blueshirts had better be sure they have a reliable backup in place before dealing Talbot.

The immediate problem for the Rangers isn’t that they yielded a first-rounder and Anthony Duclair in order to acquire Keith Yandle, it is that Yandle isn’t even playing as well on the third pair as John Moore did before he was the throw-in as part of the deal that brought No. 93 to Broadway.